Lewis began chapter eight by describing the different hypotheses in relation to the topics that were discussed in the previous chapters of the book. The author provided different scenarios as a basis and provided hypotheses for each. These scenarios were when transnational actors wielded power, when the power is focused in the state, and when other transnational social movement funders and policies are involved.
When the transnational actors had power, the hypothesis that I found to be most important was:
“The dominant goals of the environmental movement will vary with transnational funding; when transnational funding is high, the goals of eco-imperialists will dominate, and when transnational funding is low, the goals of eco-resistors will dominate.”
I had believed that this was the most important hypothesis in this scenario because of the relationship between transnational funders and the environmental groups. Since eco-imperialists relied heavily on financial supplements from the transnational funders, if the transnational funding values were high, the eco-imperialists will become more powerful and dominate the movement. On the other hand, eco-resistors do not rely on any funding from other entities, so when this funding is low, they will dominate the environmental movement at that time until funding increases again.
When the power is focused on the state, there were two hypotheses that I had thought were especially important. The one hypothesis was “Increased resource extraction will lead to increased environmental disruptions.” I found this statement to be important because, throughout the book, Lewis had really highlighted this. In addition, I had found many opinion pieces online which exemplified this. When President Correa was in office, he had allowed a greater amount of oil to be extracted which angered the environmentalists. This then caused the environmentalists to speak out in the form of protests, which in turn caused the government to suppress their citizens. The other hypothesis was “Increased environmental disruption will lead to increased environmental movement resistance by eco-resistors.” I found this one to be important because similar to the last hypothesis, this hypothesis focuses on the environmental disruption that angers the environmentalists which will lead to resistance by the eco-resistors. This would be the case because the disruption would impact each of the environmental organizations in different ways. Based on the information that Lewis had provided throughout the book about eco-resistors, we could understand why this group would act this way.
When regarding transnational social movement funders and the policies that are put in place, the most important hypothesis would be:
“Transnational movement funders influence policy in weak states by working through national social movement actors, thus having their goals enacted at the state level.”
This is the most important hypothesis for this scenario because it emphasizes the importance of a strong government. When a country has a weak government, that means that environmental organizations will be more encouraged to receive funds from elsewhere, which would typically mean accepting money from foreign entities in exchange for that group to focus on a particular goal.
Overall, I believe that the author missed a few key points after conducting my own research. Although this book was published in 2016, I believe that she failed to highlight the public’s opinion on the government. In addition, she focuses primarily on President Correa’s term in office rather than his predecessors. If this novel was to be published more recently after he resigned, I would want the author to go into depth about Lenín Moreno and if he had an impact on the environmentalists' group and what that impact could be. There seemed to be many contrasting opinions about Correa all throughout his presidency, which I had thought would have made her as an author more credible since she had primarily described the president in a positive light until he started to suppress his people. In addition to discussing the new Ecuadorian president, if this book were published more recently, an explanation of the pink tide would be beneficial. I also think that the author did not spend enough time discussing the exports of the country, the Yasuni-ITT initiative, and just how important the buen vivir / sumak kawsay was to the people of Ecuador, and how much the oil industry impacted the environmentalist movement.
When conducting more research on some public opinion on Rafael Correa, I had found an article titled “Rafael Correa: The Ecuadorian Dream.” This article discussed Correa when he came into office and the shift in ideals once Correa resigned. The president before Correa, Lucio Gutiérrez, was overthrown a year prior to Correa coming into office. The citizens of Ecuador were thankful that Correa had strayed away from the unpopular norm to engage in propaganda and not fulfilling his promises to his citizens. It was noted that Correa had lifted the spirits of his people with his generous social spending programs. Correa had to try to lessen the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 on his country, but it had seemed that their main export, oil, was greatly decreased in value. It is believed that Ecuador was the hardest-hit country in Latin America of this global financial crisis. After suppressing his people once they had begun to protest against decisions that Correa had made, the people of Ecuador had called for him to resign and not to run again. Correa’s Vice President, Lenín Moreno, was the next elected president of Ecuador which had surprised many of the international observers. Moreno’s win of the election shows that the pink tide may not be over.
To define the pink tide, I utilized the article “Latin America's 'Pink Tide' Recedes.” There has been this trend, dubbed the “pink tide,” in Latin America that shows that the governments are leaning more towards the left. The author of this article explains that about a decade after Hugo Chavez came into power, many leftist individuals were able to claim a spot of power in their governments. For example, during this time period leftists were presidents in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, and many other countries, but since then have been steadily decreasing.
To discuss more on “buen vivir / sumak kawsay,” I had researched and found the webpage “Sumak Kawsay.” This website was able to explain the concepts and how they relate to indigenous communities. Since buen vivir means good living, many people take this saying as meaning to be in harmony with ourselves, our community, and our environment which the indigenous communities had believed to be a living entity. Different indigenous tribes use resources such that the communities are not taking more than their share from the environment. In other words, the communities are promoting sustainable practices when extracting their resources. By accepting this concept, indigenous communities are thought to be able to preserve their unique culture and identity as well as care for the environment for themselves and generations to come.
The oil extraction had a negative impact on the indigenous communities that I felt was not properly emphasized in the book. I found the article “In Ecuador, a pipeline cuts a trail of misery through indigenous land” when conducting research to further educate myself about the issue at hand, exporting and extracting oil. In order to transport the oil, some Latin American countries had decided to put in an oil pipeline. Since the construction of this particular pipeline did not have the proper permits, this led to the destruction of ancestral forests. This destruction would negatively impact the Siona indigenous communities that were located between Ecuador and Colombia. Some of the negative effects on this community would be that they lost medicinal plants and now had polluted waterways which made them dangerous to use. This indigenous community had fought for reparations for the destruction of their lands, but the state ombudsman, a public advocate to represent the public, and the Ministry of Environment had not been successful in assisting this community to find a solution.
When the transnational actors had power, the hypothesis that I found to be most important was:
“The dominant goals of the environmental movement will vary with transnational funding; when transnational funding is high, the goals of eco-imperialists will dominate, and when transnational funding is low, the goals of eco-resistors will dominate.”
I had believed that this was the most important hypothesis in this scenario because of the relationship between transnational funders and the environmental groups. Since eco-imperialists relied heavily on financial supplements from the transnational funders, if the transnational funding values were high, the eco-imperialists will become more powerful and dominate the movement. On the other hand, eco-resistors do not rely on any funding from other entities, so when this funding is low, they will dominate the environmental movement at that time until funding increases again.
When the power is focused on the state, there were two hypotheses that I had thought were especially important. The one hypothesis was “Increased resource extraction will lead to increased environmental disruptions.” I found this statement to be important because, throughout the book, Lewis had really highlighted this. In addition, I had found many opinion pieces online which exemplified this. When President Correa was in office, he had allowed a greater amount of oil to be extracted which angered the environmentalists. This then caused the environmentalists to speak out in the form of protests, which in turn caused the government to suppress their citizens. The other hypothesis was “Increased environmental disruption will lead to increased environmental movement resistance by eco-resistors.” I found this one to be important because similar to the last hypothesis, this hypothesis focuses on the environmental disruption that angers the environmentalists which will lead to resistance by the eco-resistors. This would be the case because the disruption would impact each of the environmental organizations in different ways. Based on the information that Lewis had provided throughout the book about eco-resistors, we could understand why this group would act this way.
When regarding transnational social movement funders and the policies that are put in place, the most important hypothesis would be:
“Transnational movement funders influence policy in weak states by working through national social movement actors, thus having their goals enacted at the state level.”
This is the most important hypothesis for this scenario because it emphasizes the importance of a strong government. When a country has a weak government, that means that environmental organizations will be more encouraged to receive funds from elsewhere, which would typically mean accepting money from foreign entities in exchange for that group to focus on a particular goal.
Overall, I believe that the author missed a few key points after conducting my own research. Although this book was published in 2016, I believe that she failed to highlight the public’s opinion on the government. In addition, she focuses primarily on President Correa’s term in office rather than his predecessors. If this novel was to be published more recently after he resigned, I would want the author to go into depth about Lenín Moreno and if he had an impact on the environmentalists' group and what that impact could be. There seemed to be many contrasting opinions about Correa all throughout his presidency, which I had thought would have made her as an author more credible since she had primarily described the president in a positive light until he started to suppress his people. In addition to discussing the new Ecuadorian president, if this book were published more recently, an explanation of the pink tide would be beneficial. I also think that the author did not spend enough time discussing the exports of the country, the Yasuni-ITT initiative, and just how important the buen vivir / sumak kawsay was to the people of Ecuador, and how much the oil industry impacted the environmentalist movement.
When conducting more research on some public opinion on Rafael Correa, I had found an article titled “Rafael Correa: The Ecuadorian Dream.” This article discussed Correa when he came into office and the shift in ideals once Correa resigned. The president before Correa, Lucio Gutiérrez, was overthrown a year prior to Correa coming into office. The citizens of Ecuador were thankful that Correa had strayed away from the unpopular norm to engage in propaganda and not fulfilling his promises to his citizens. It was noted that Correa had lifted the spirits of his people with his generous social spending programs. Correa had to try to lessen the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 on his country, but it had seemed that their main export, oil, was greatly decreased in value. It is believed that Ecuador was the hardest-hit country in Latin America of this global financial crisis. After suppressing his people once they had begun to protest against decisions that Correa had made, the people of Ecuador had called for him to resign and not to run again. Correa’s Vice President, Lenín Moreno, was the next elected president of Ecuador which had surprised many of the international observers. Moreno’s win of the election shows that the pink tide may not be over.
To define the pink tide, I utilized the article “Latin America's 'Pink Tide' Recedes.” There has been this trend, dubbed the “pink tide,” in Latin America that shows that the governments are leaning more towards the left. The author of this article explains that about a decade after Hugo Chavez came into power, many leftist individuals were able to claim a spot of power in their governments. For example, during this time period leftists were presidents in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, and many other countries, but since then have been steadily decreasing.
To discuss more on “buen vivir / sumak kawsay,” I had researched and found the webpage “Sumak Kawsay.” This website was able to explain the concepts and how they relate to indigenous communities. Since buen vivir means good living, many people take this saying as meaning to be in harmony with ourselves, our community, and our environment which the indigenous communities had believed to be a living entity. Different indigenous tribes use resources such that the communities are not taking more than their share from the environment. In other words, the communities are promoting sustainable practices when extracting their resources. By accepting this concept, indigenous communities are thought to be able to preserve their unique culture and identity as well as care for the environment for themselves and generations to come.
The oil extraction had a negative impact on the indigenous communities that I felt was not properly emphasized in the book. I found the article “In Ecuador, a pipeline cuts a trail of misery through indigenous land” when conducting research to further educate myself about the issue at hand, exporting and extracting oil. In order to transport the oil, some Latin American countries had decided to put in an oil pipeline. Since the construction of this particular pipeline did not have the proper permits, this led to the destruction of ancestral forests. This destruction would negatively impact the Siona indigenous communities that were located between Ecuador and Colombia. Some of the negative effects on this community would be that they lost medicinal plants and now had polluted waterways which made them dangerous to use. This indigenous community had fought for reparations for the destruction of their lands, but the state ombudsman, a public advocate to represent the public, and the Ministry of Environment had not been successful in assisting this community to find a solution.
Figure 1: An image of the oil pollution in the Lago Agrio oil field which is located in Ecuador.
Resources
(n.d) Sumak Kawsay. Retrieved from https://www.pachamama.org/sumak-kawsay
In Ecuador, a pipeline cuts a trail of misery through indigenous land. (2018, December 10).
Retrieved from https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/in-ecuador-a-pipeline-cuts-a-trail-of-misery-through-indigenous-land/
(n.d) Rafael Correa: The Ecuadorian Dream. Retrieved from
https://harvardpolitics.com/world/rafael-correa-the-ecuadorian-dream/
Stephens, H. (2018, November 27). Latin America's 'Pink Tide' Recedes. Retrieved from
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/25729/latin-americas-pink-tide-recedes
In Ecuador, a pipeline cuts a trail of misery through indigenous land. (2018, December 10).
Retrieved from https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/in-ecuador-a-pipeline-cuts-a-trail-of-misery-through-indigenous-land/
(n.d) Rafael Correa: The Ecuadorian Dream. Retrieved from
https://harvardpolitics.com/world/rafael-correa-the-ecuadorian-dream/
Stephens, H. (2018, November 27). Latin America's 'Pink Tide' Recedes. Retrieved from
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/25729/latin-americas-pink-tide-recedes
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